60-second logging
Title, category, confidence, reasoning, expected outcome.
Decision Loop: a decision journal that brings every call back for review
A lightweight journal for your biggest calls. Log a decision in under a minute — title, category, confidence, reasoning, expected outcome — then come back in 30, 60, or 90 days to record what actually happened. Over time, Nautis spots patterns.
- Time to log60 sec
- Review windows30 / 60 / 90
- AccessBy permission
app.nautis.io/decision-loop
What is Decision Loop?
Decision Loop is the decision journal in Nautis. You log a call in under a minute with a category, a confidence level, whether it's reversible and a review date 30, 60 or 90 days out, plus your reasoning, assumptions and expected outcome. When the date arrives you record whether it went better, as expected or worse, and Insights compares your confidence with what actually happened.
Ask a founder about a decision from last year and you'll get a tidy story about why it made sense. Memory edits out the doubt, the assumptions that turned out wrong and the alternative you nearly picked. The only reliable fix is to write the prediction down before the result exists, then look at it again later. That's the whole idea of a decision journal, and Decision Loop adds the reminder that makes people actually come back.
Click + Add decision to open Log a decision. The required fields are a specific Decision title, a Category (Hiring, Product, Sales, Finance, Strategy, Tech or Marketing), a Confidence level of Low, Medium or High, and a Review timing of 30, 60 or 90 days. Reversible? marks whether you could roll the call back. Optional fields cover Short reasoning, Key assumptions and Expected outcome, a Link to milestone on an active task board, and SWOT Context, which pulls weaknesses and threats from your latest SWOT analysis as a sanity check.
The decision then sits on the Timeline as Pending review, turns Review due on its date, and becomes Reviewed once you choose an outcome and write a reflection. Reviewed decisions lock, so hindsight can't tidy them up. The Insights tab charts confidence against outcome, results by category, results by burnout level in the week you decided, and how punctual your reviews have been. Reports keeps downloadable summaries for a quarterly look back.
Two habits make it pay off. Log more than feels necessary, since the guide's own suggestion is at least two decisions a week, and write the expected outcome as something you can check, like "MRR up 10% in 60 days". A vague prediction produces a vague review.
Built for
- Founders learning their decision patterns
- Operators tracking high-stakes calls
- Teams running structured retros on their own choices
Capabilities
What you can do with Decision Loop
Everything ships out of the box. No setup, no plugins, no extra tools.
Scheduled reviews
Pick 30, 60, or 90 days — Nautis surfaces it again on that date.
Reversible flag
Tag one-way doors vs reversible bets so retros are honest.
Pattern surfacing
Confidence vs reality, best categories, impact of high-stress weeks.
Shared by permission
The log lives in your organization; anyone with Decision Loop read access can view it.
Use cases
How startups use Decision Loop
Testing a pricing change
Log it under Sales or Strategy with a 60-day review and an expected outcome you can measure, such as conversion from trial holding steady at the higher price. Note the key assumption, for instance that churn won't rise. In two months the review asks whether that held, instead of leaving you to remember what you thought would happen.
Making the first senior hire
Mark it under Hiring, switch Reversible? off and link it to the hiring milestone. If your Burnout Radar score is high that week, the dialog suggests waiting 24 to 48 hours. Set a 90-day review, because whether a senior hire is working rarely shows in a month.
Finding your blind spot with a co-founder
Before a quarterly planning session, open Insights together. The Confidence vs outcome number counts high-confidence calls that turned out worse than expected. If most of them sit in one category, that's the area where you should ask for a second opinion before deciding.
Keeping the log founder-only
Anyone in the organization with Decision Loop read permission can view the log. If some calls aren't for the whole team, adjust access under Account Settings and then Members & Roles.
Quick start
From zero to using Decision Loop
- 1
Log a decision
Title, category, confidence, reversibility — 60 seconds.
- 2
Set a review date
30, 60, or 90 days.
- 3
Review when prompted
Capture what actually happened in your own words.
- 4
Read your patterns
Trends emerge after a few cycles.
How AI works with your decision journal
Use template seeds the reasoning box with a structured prompt for the chosen category. During a review, Generate reflection prompts suggests questions that push past "it went fine". On the Insights tab, AI notes describe patterns in plain language, for example flagging that high confidence paired with worse outcomes suggests overconfidence. These features use a small amount of AI credits; logging and reviewing don't.
The morning briefing also pulls in decision reviews that have come due, and the routines catalog includes a triggered Decision Logged routine that runs whenever a decision is logged. With write access allowed, a connected Claude or ChatGPT can create and update decisions too.
Decision Loop vs a notes document vs a wiki decision log
Engineering teams often keep decision records in a wiki, and those suit long technical write-ups. Decision Loop is shorter by design and built around the review.
| Feature | Notes document | Decision Loop | Wiki decision log |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review date | A reminder you set yourself | 30, 60 or 90 days, flagged Review due | Usually none |
| Protected history | Editable forever | Locks once reviewed | Editable |
| Confidence tracking | Only if you remember to | Low, Medium or High, compared with the outcome | Rare |
| Context | Pasted in | Milestone link, SWOT weaknesses and threats, burnout level that week | Links to other pages |
| Patterns | You work them out | Insights charts and AI notes | None built in |
| Long technical detail | Fine | Short fields | Better fit |
Plans and limits
- Anyone with Decision Loop permissions can use it, founders included, and each organization keeps its own log.
- The AI features draw on monthly credits, which differ by plan on pricing. New workspaces get 14 days to try it without entering a card.
What Decision Loop doesn't do
- A decision links to one milestone at most. Mention any others in the reasoning or assumptions.
- Reviewed decisions can't be edited. If something is truly wrong, delete it and log it again.
- Patterns need volume. With one decision a month there isn't enough signal for the insights to say much.
- It records and reviews decisions; it doesn't run a team vote or teach a management framework such as EOS® (a trademark of EOS Worldwide) or OKRs.
Decision Loop questions
What should a decision journal entry include?+
The decision in one specific line, what you expect to happen and by when, how confident you are, and the assumptions that have to hold. Add whether it's reversible. Decision Loop has a field for each, so a complete entry still takes about a minute.
How do I choose between a 30, 60 or 90 day review?+
Match it to when the result becomes visible. A marketing test or a pricing page change often shows something within 30 days, while a hire or a new market usually needs 90. If you're unsure, pick the longer window.
What counts as a one-way door?+
A decision you can't easily undo, such as a senior hire, a long contract or shutting down a product line. Switch Reversible? off for those. Nautis then shows an Irreversible badge and a stronger warning when your burnout risk is high.
Can a decision pull in my SWOT analysis?+
Yes. Expand SWOT Context in the log dialog to bring in the weaknesses and threats from your latest SWOT analysis. It works as a quick check that the call accounts for risks you have already written down.
Can I use a decision journal as a team, or is it just for founders?+
Any team member with Decision Loop permissions can log and review calls, and everyone with read access sees the same log. A sensible start is founders only, opening it up once the habit sticks.
Can I change a decision after I've reviewed it?+
No. Reviewed decisions lock so your hindsight doesn't rewrite the past. If you really need to fix something, delete it and re-log it.
Do my team members see my decisions?+
Anyone in the organization with Decision Loop read permission can view the log. Adjust access under Account Settings → Members & Roles if you want it founder-only.
Why am I being warned about high burnout risk?+
Nautis cross-references your Burnout Radar score with the decision you're logging. High-stress weeks are a common driver of poor calls, especially irreversible ones — the prompt is just a nudge to slow down.
What does the 'Confidence vs outcome' number really mean?+
It counts the decisions you logged as High confidence that turned out Worse than expected after review. A growing number is the classic signal of overconfidence.
Can I link a decision to multiple milestones?+
A decision links to one milestone at most. If a call touches several, link the highest-stakes one and mention the others in Reasoning or Key assumptions.
What if I never get round to reviewing?+
Decisions stay flagged Review due until you record an outcome. The dashboard's status strip will keep reminding you — but skipped reviews simply mean fewer data points for your patterns.
What categories are supported?+
Hiring, Product, Sales, Finance, Strategy, Tech, and Marketing — covers most founder calls.
Do AI features use credits?+
Templates, reflection prompts, and insights use a small amount of AI credits. Logging and reviewing decisions don't.
Your first hire, before your first hire
Hire your Chief of Staff today.
Full business context from the first conversation. Daily operations, fundraising, revenue and finance, run with you. You approve every move. It handles the rest.
Nothing leaves your workspace without your yes.